How Much Does General Liability Insurance Cost?

We put together a snapshot of how much Commercial General Liability Insurance costs for the typical small-business owner by analyzing data from policies we sold in 2017. The sample we analyzed includes more than 18,000 businesses with 10 or fewer employees.

On average, the annual cost of General Liability Insurance, regardless of policy limits, was just $741 (less than $62 per month), with a median price of $428 (about $36 per month). Most small-businesses owners (54 percent) paid between $400 and $600 for their policies. Another 21 percent paid less than $400.

You can see the full breakdown in the chart below.

What Small Businesses Pay for General Liability Insurance

As you can see, 87 percent of Insureon customers pay less than $1,000 per year (that's less than $85 per month) for General Liability Insurance.

Commercial General Liability Insurance: Industry Drives Pricing

One factor that has the biggest impact on the cost of General Liability Insurance is the industry of the business buying coverage. That makes sense: brick-and-mortar retailers get a lot more foot traffic than home-based accountants, and janitors have a greater chance of damaging client property than business consultants. Customer injuries and client property damage are both covered by a General Liability policy.

Take a look at the graph below to see how the industry you work in affects what you'll pay for a General Liability policy with an aggregate limit of $2 million and a per-occurrence limit of $1 million (that's our most popular policy limit, as we'll explain below). (Hint: hover over bars to see exact values.)

Average Cost of a $1M / $2M General Liability Policy by Industry

Notice that janitors, construction businesses, and manufacturers have the highest coverage costs. That's because businesses in these industries do work that involves other people's property. As we mentioned above, General Liability can pay for damage to other people's property that you or your employees cause.

To see insurance costs for businesses in your industry, check out our industry-specific cost analyses:

How General Liability Coverage Limits Affect Cost

If you want car insurance that pays for a wide range of damage, you have to pay more for it. The same rule applies to business insurance: if you want a policy with higher coverage limits, expect to pay more than you would for bare-bones coverage.

The most popular General Liability policy among Insureon customers is the $1 million / $2 million policy. This includes…

$1 million occurrence limit, meaning that while the policy is active, the insurer will pay up to $1 million to cover any single claim.

$2 million aggregate limit, meaning that during the lifetime of a policy (usually one year), the insurer will pay up to $2 million to cover claims.

To see the other limits businesses chose, check out the chart below.

Which General Liability Limits Do Small Businesses Choose?

The majority of Insureon customers (85 percent) chose a policy with $1M / $2M limits. Twelve percent of our customers chose a policy with $2M / $4M limits, the next most popular choice.

What Small Businesses Pay for $1M / $2M General Liability Insurance

The average cost of a $1M / $2M General Liability policy is $1,283 per year, and the median is $584.

See the chart below for a full breakdown of the cost.

What Small Businesses Pay for $1M / $2M General Liability Insurance

As you can see, for a policy with $1M / $2M limits, 53 percent of Insureon customers pay between $400 and $600 per year. Another 22 percent pay between $200 and $400. In other words, 75 percent of our customers pay $600 or less per year for this coverage.

Dig Deeper into Business Insurance Costs

Insurance costs vary greatly based on the type of insurance a business buys. Learn more about how much each of these insurance policies costs for small businesses.

The materials available at this web site are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact a licensed insurance agent or attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. Use of and access to this Web site or any of the e-mail links contained within the site do not create a relationship between Insureon and the user or browser. The opinions expressed at or through this site are the opinions of the individual author and may not reflect the opinions of the firm.